catching up

This past week has been so busy that I am sorry that I have not posted. I have had the dilemma of trying to figure out if I should sleep or write. Tonight I should be sleeping, but I have to catch everyone up.

Columbus was nice, Samson's sponsor is from there so he decided to take us on a tour of Callaway Gardens. We got to see how water is bottled, the spring where it comes from and we watched a bird show at the end of the day. It was a cold day, but watching the children enjoy the outdoors was so worth it. During the bird show I sat between Asia and Wilber. Wilber would literally duck into my lap when the bird would fly over. They loved leaning about the birds, Wilber told me all about the bird facts he knew from school. We had dinner at the host homes that night, which consisted of us having a dance party while the sweet lady we were staying with finished cooking dinner. My shower was cold there, freezing actually, like so cold that I was waiting for Ashton Kutcher to jump out and scream 'You've been Punk'd" -- however, he didn't. It was a real moment. A moment that I literally still laugh when I think about how cold that shower was. It was another 'welcome to tour moment' -- the next morning we packed up to head to the next city, 3 hours away.

Covington reminded me of home. When we arrived you could tell it was a little country town. Nothing too fancy, just good people who understood southern hospitality. This one was a very good host home. The family was a simple little family, they lived on plenty of land and it was in the middle of nowhere. It was great. The girls actually had a friend that was about their age at this house. There was a little boy who was 6 and another little girl who was 3. The oldest little girl was a dancer so she taught the girls some dance moves on her ballet bar. I have learned that when you stay with the girls-- there will be dancing involved. Matter of fact I have taught most of them the q'tip, shopping cart and plenty more. There will be videos of these coming soon. This family was sweet, the church members were sweet and where I hammocked was sweet. It was a great time. While Lindsay and I tucked the girls in one night, I felt like I was doing something with my life. We were all giggling and jumping around on the air mattress. I felt like our giggles and white girl dance moves were making us grow closer. Everytime Asia sees me now she starts doing the macarena. Its pretty perfect if I do say so myself. That house had many memories.

Tonight we are in North Georgia.

I have found myself getting nervous before Misty calls the house assignments for the host homes, simply because I am not sure if I am ready to go to a home by myself with the kids, yet. I think I am still in training. Jesus just laughed. I know He did. There is no training for this. Sure there are rules but training on how to have a relationship with the host homes and the children. Nope. You just go with the flow, you speak from your heart and you learn their names. My goodness, learn their names. I am terrible at this part. I actually know this host homes names, praise. But, many others I have forgotten.  Misty called the names, I had all Ugandans. No Americans. My heart dropped. I walked to the car with the two little girls and two Ugandan chaperones. My mind was going 100 miles an hour. I got into the car and conversation started immediately. The nanny was a couple years older than me and knew people from my hometown. We arrived at the house and it was beautiful, big and on a farm. The girls got to feed horses, swing and ride the gator around the farm. Auntie Wendy and Auntie Elizabeth are a floor below the rest of us. The girls are right down the hallway. This has meant that I tuck the girls in, I wake them up and I rush them when needed. This has been my favorite job ever. Last night, we went to bed right on time. Well, we tried to. The girls had to shower-- this is where the rushing part came in. The girls went to sleep and I came to my room to watch Netflix on my computer. This was a terrible idea. It made me miss home, miss my cat and miss knowing that my family was in the next house.

I woke up this morning knowing that it would be a good day and that Netflix couldn't be watched anymore on tour. I woke the girls up and then went downstairs to check on the other aunties.  I let the girls start their showers, had a 'good morning' text and got dressed myself. It was a great morning. Sidenote: to my dad who use to have to pick me up out of the bed and guide me my bathroom when I was growing up, you would be so proud. We arrived at the church on time and the kids started worship and devotion.  The day got started, kids went to class. The chaperones went to Target. Then had Chick Fil A at a park away from the church. The kids loved the nuggets. I loved having something besides a peanut butter sandwich. After we ate, I walked around the playground to find the kids,  but instead I found a tire swing that was low to the ground-- what else was I supposed to do?  I sat on the tire swing in front of the soccer moms and all. Three minutes later, I had Loyce sitting on top of me and for fifteen minutes my insides were squished, she was in charge of the selfies and we just enjoyed laughing.

I am learning how to fashion a bed out of church chairs. Give me 5 chairs and you can have a good bed, give me 6 you will have the best bed ever. Marissa (another America chaperone) and myself found a good room with lots of chairs and knew that it was nap time. I am still unashamed that we napped for 2 hours and that members of the church walked in twice. It felt great to be asleep while the children were asleep. A little while after nap was sound check, this was time for me to get ready for the show. I washed my hair in the sink and forgot a towel, this only leaving me to dry my hair with paper towels.

Dinner was pasta and salad. The entire choir sat at a really long table, it reminded me of my first trip to Uganda. While we ate I turned around to see my sweet, little momma standing behind me to surprise me (its her favorite thing and on this tour its my favorite thing to see familiar faces).  She brought along my sweet Aunt Susan and Uncle Bill. They got to see the show, while mom and I caught up in the foryer of the church. We laughed as we sent out snapchats, laughed and took selfies (because its another one of her favorite things to do). We talked about all of the kids. I told her about each of them, I told her about my new friends, I told her about my funny moments and my not so funny moments. It was a short visit, but such a good one. After the show, my mom went to say 'bye' to the children. As a joke, I started telling them that I was leaving with my mom and it was like I was telling them that the tour was cancelled. They opened their eyes so wide and looked scared. Some didn't say words, they just walked away. Some immediately said 'No, please,' others looked at me then looked at my mom and didn't use their words. When I told them it was a joke they nearly knocked me over with hugs so big. I find self wondering what the goodbyes will be like, but I have to turn that away quick because it is dangerous territory. Our host home this time had been great. They have awesome stories. He was the founder of WebMD, she is a photographer, their family helped bring the olympics to Atlanta-- I think after the late trip to the pool accompanied by ice cream, the girls wouldn't mind staying for a few more day. However, tomorrow we say 'goodbye' to this family and we move onto the next.

This tour is tiring, but in a good way. When I was saying my fake byes to the children tonight, I imagined what it would be like in 3 months when the real 'byes' come. I seriously have learned so much about myself in the past couple of weeks. Jesus, you are teaching me new things everyday. I love not knowing what the next host home will be like or who I will be rooming with. Its a great adventure. I am learning new things everyday, learning new things with every person I meet. I love watching them learn about Uganda. I love knowing the answer to the questions and I love that Jesus allowed me to be on this journey.